


and when you find you both wear masks? what then?

by cjones7



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: (ask to tag), (way less porn than it sounds or than i meat it to be), Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Ambiguous Relationships, Archie is a closeted trans girl in this, Autistic Archie Andrews, Character Study, Closeted Character, F/F, F/M, Gender Angst, Gender Exploration, Gender Issues, Genderfluid Character, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Open Relationships, Oral Sex, Pegging, The idea that sleeping with a trans girl makes you straight is., Trans Archie, Trans Characters, Vaginal Sex, ambiguous sexuality due to gender issues, cheryl and toni are together but, contrary to the entire point, how do you tag that feeling where you know you're not cis but don't know /how/, i got spammed with transphobic comments until i removed the tag, inaccurate languge foe gender and sexuality as stated characters are still figuring things out, queer characters who have not yet hit on what they are, questioning characters, this is that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:48:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjones7/pseuds/cjones7
Summary: Cheryl has a talent for accidentally dredging up parts of yourself you’re carefully ignoring; Archie thinks. Maybe that’s why Toni asked to open the relationship. Either way, it was her fault. (It’s much easier, if it’s her fault.)Or: the one where Cheryl and Archie fall into exploring gender stuff together; and are also sleeping together
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Cheryl Blossom
Comments: 10
Kudos: 11





	and when you find you both wear masks? what then?

**Author's Note:**

> In which I project all of my uncomfortable gender angst onto Archie and Cheryl instead of dealing with it myself.
> 
> EDIT: comments that are clearly meant to bait an argument about how these characters aren’t trans in canon will be deleted. I know that. You’re not going to convince me to stop writing aus.
> 
> EDIT THE SECOND: I took it out of the tag and made the tags inaccurate and unusable you can stop spamming your transphobic nonsense now. I tagged the trans stuff extensively. You clicked on it.
> 
> EDIT THE THIRD: I wrote this from the perspective of someone who thought they were a lesbian for a very long time and then is having to go through intense and uncomfortable gender questioning. I tagged the trans stuff /extensively/. I am not saying Cheryl is trans in canon; I am using a fictional character I relate to to explore an aspect of myself. Please sending me creepy stan culture threats.

Cheryl has a talent for accidentally dredging up parts of yourself you’re carefully ignoring; Archie thinks. Maybe that’s why Toni asked to open the relationship. Either way, it was her fault. (It’s much easier, if it’s her fault.) It was Cheryl who asked why he kisses like a nervous lesbian (he still isn’t sure what that meant; but she said it was cute, so he let it drop); it was Cheryl who accidentally called him her “good girl” while she pinned him down, Cheryl who took that and ran with it. Archie just goes with the flow, as he always does. That’s his talent, probably.

*

If Cheryl were a nicer person in general, she would feel like she was taken advantage of Archie’s guileless sweetness when they met like this. Cheryl isn’t a nice person. She’s a Blossom. She figures if she can catch someone, anyone, who won’t bat an eye if she dresses in her dead brother’s clothes and asks them to call her Julian when they’re fucking, that person is a keeper. It just so happens that person is Archie Andrews.

*

There’s rules, and Archie knows them all. He likes rules, works best with rules, asked for them. He likes to know when he’s doing well. The rules are: only touch Cheryl how she asks, when she asks. That’s the easiest. He’s good at following orders. Another: only fuck Cheryl when she’s not Cheryl. Cheryl doesn’t like penetration; Julian does. (Julian is Cheryl, in a short shorn wig and a binder and Jason’s old clothes; or he was at first. Archie offered to go shopping with her (Him? Both of them? Archie hasn’t asked. Doesn’t want to shatter such a fragile set up.) after a while; figured that might be too sad. Cheryl is never one to say no to a shopping spree; even when she’s Julian.) But it’s a fair trade off; because Cheryl will fuck him, and Julian won’t. It occurs to Archie it’s probably supposed to be the other way around; but he’s not one to argue someone’s happiness. He figures that’s probably why she keeps him around.

*

The way Archie touches her; she forgot, that first time, that this wasn’t one of her girls. His face buried in her cunt, her hands in his hair; those sweet sounds he made for her, “good girl” she said; not even thinking, and he went slack against her and a whole world opened up. He looked up, those big doe eyes; and whispered:

“ _Can I?_ ” And Cheryl isn’t completely cruel; so how could she ever say no to such a sweet request?  


*

Whatever his deal is; it’s different that Cheryl-Julian’s, Archie figures. Cheryl knows; it’s her fault _he_ knows. It’s not a dress up game (and neither is Julian, Archie’s pretty sure now. Not even Cheryl can keep a game on that long) and it’s not a sometimes-or-other thing. It’s just--when he goes to Cheryl (and they aren’t dates. Dates are for boyfriend-and-girlfriend, and they aren’t that. He doesn’t know what they are.) he doesn’t have to be boy-Archie anymore. It’s more like taking a costume off; than anything. Cheryl picks out his clothes; sometimes; but he’s learned what he likes: soft fabrics, sweet florals and pastels. She’s stopped dressing him for high drama. Girl-Archie is more Archie than the Archie at home and at school; and he carefully does not think about that when he’s not with Cheryl. He doesn’t know what would happen if he did. He’d explode, probably.

*

Toni walked in on them once; on Girl-Archie in a sweet powder pink sundress (“Some people say redheads shouldn’t wear pink.” Cheryl said; “But fuck ‘em.”) making out with Julian in her lap in a blazer that’s just-Julian’s; never Jason’s. She just smiled, in something Archie found sweet and soft; and turned around. They all pretend that one didn’t happen.

*

Sometimes Julian and Girl-Archie go dancing; over in Greendale of course. Not where anyone knows them. It’s still not a date; but it’s something nice, something new. Archie likes not having to be Riverdale-Archie, boy-Archie for a few hours. It’s a certain kind of vacation. But--Archie isn’t sure Cheryl goes dancing with Toni. Maybe if she told him about Julian; they would. That’s Cheryl’s business; though.

*

The important part is that they don’t talk about it. If they don’t talk about it; they can both pretend they’re happy in their lives at large; that they’re just playing around. Cheryl knows they’re not. Archie knows they’re not. They still don’t talk about it; still don’t know how to take that step. There’s time; they tell themselves. There’s time. Everyone in Riverdale has secrets to keep them sane. This is one of the better ones. It can be a secret a while longer yet. (It can be a secret forever, Cheryl thinks. Archie has learned secrets have shelf lives; and to take your happiness when you can get it. That you never know when it will be taken away.) Maybe tomorrow Cheryl will explain Julian to Toni (once she fully understands him herself). Maybe tomorrow Girl-Archie will _be_ Riverdale-Archie. But not today. Today’s their night in; just for them. And the secret stays preserved; a little while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> I am more than likely not done with the concept because I more than likely will still need Archie and Cheryl to project shit on to so like; keep a lookout for more of whatever this is.


End file.
